Brant Fitzhugh has fallen to his death, and quite naturally, his widow is traumatized. She is certain he was murdered but cannot imagine why. Detective Eve Dallas is on the case. Was he the intended victim, or was his wife Eliza the actual target? Cyanide poisoning in a glass of champagne was the cause of death.

Brant was well-liked. His death makes absolutely no sense. He was happily married. Both Brant and Eliza are in the entertainment business. With the harmony in their marriage, their schedules were usually in sync. However, Brant has a project that will take him away to New Zealand for six months. Eliza will be playing a role in a revival of successful play on Broadway so she cannot travel with Brant.

In the case of the In Death series, Nora Roberts has written it under her pseudonym, J. D. Robb. I just love her books and have read every single book in this series, including the two that follow, Payback in Death and Random in Death .

Everything about this book is wonderful. Whether the drama of discovering who murdered Brant, to Eve and husband's Roarke's amazing relationship, from Eve's relationship with her coworkers, most notably, Peabody, this book packs a wallop. Then I love Eve's sense of humor, and her level of snark, and how she often wonders aloud why certain phrases are what they are - like why is a driveway called a driveway.

With a delightful mystery, great characters, solid intrigue and a conclusion that one might not expect, this book definitely rated a solid five stars.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

In this 56th in the series, hard-nosed homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas is very happily married to devilishly handsome Roarke, the richest man on the planet, but keeps her job and independence.

This time, Eve and her team investigate a famous actor's murder at a gala event thrown by his wife - but who was really the target?

Of course she gets to the surprising truth, with Roarke at her back, as always.

This is #56 in the In Death series. It's a mystery series that takes place in a future MYC. Eve Dallas is a homicide lieutenant for the NYPD. She is married to Roarke, who is Irish, gorgeous, rich, and a great partner to Eve. He often helps on investigations. They have pasts that have helped them connect. I love them.

And the side characters are like family at this point. Eves work partner, Peabody, her best friend Mavis, and soma@y more. This series is one big comfort read for me. Each book has a Homicide to solve.

This particular Homicide w was a mega- famous movie star. Who did it? Why? I always the procedural parts of this series and this book was no exception. Lots of people to interview and investigate and they all feel so real. If you haven't read this series, I recommend checking it out.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy. All opinions are my own.

J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) infuses murder, suspense, and drama in Encore in Death , a well-written futuristic police procedural set in New York City featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas with the NYC police department and set around 2061.

Celebrity couple Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh throw a party on the night before Brant is scheduled to leave for New Zealand. He is producing and starring in a movie being filmed there while Eliza is set for the role of a lifetime on Broadway. Eve Dallas arrives after Brant toasted Eliza, fell to the floor, and died. The drink that killed him was originally intended for Eliza. Which of them was the target? With over 200 guests, staff, and servers, it’s not going to be easy to identify the killer.

Time spent with Eve, Delia (Eve’s partner), Roarke (Eve’s husband), and Eve’s colleagues is always entertaining. The main characters are compelling and three-dimensional. Eve’s need to serve and protect comes through in every book, but the underlying impetus for this is best understood by reading this series in order. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light. Several of the recurring police characters play significant roles in this book, and readers get to see a bit of their private lives. I also enjoyed seeing Delia take on more responsibility in this story line.

The prose is well-written and engaging. The plot is thought-provoking and tragic. While this book has some action, it is mostly a police procedural. Robb usually manages to weave humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story. The humor manages to bring out Eve’s personality. Everything from phrases she doesn’t understand, to her reactions to the loud clothing worn by her colleagues and to a candy thief make her more relatable. The author brings strong characters, great plots, wonderful relationships, and excellent pacing to the series. Woven through the novel are threads of caring for others, friendship, relationships, ego, glamour, careers, leadership, and trust.

Overall, this novel was a twisty tale with great characterization that kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals, then I recommend this series. This is the fifty-sixth book in the In Death Eve Dallas series and I have read all of them up to this point. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

St. Martin’s Press and J.D. Robb provided a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date was February 7, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Encore in Death by J.D. Robb is the 56th book in her fantastic In Death series. I have said this many times that I loved this series, as I have read every single book, as well as all the novellas of this series. I also love Eve and Roarke, who I still consider the best literary couple. Encore in Death was a wonderful addition to this series. I will never have enough of this series, and marvel how Robb continues to give us fascinating stories at 56 books later;

Encore in Death starts off with a celebrity gala hosted by Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh, two of the most famous celebrities, as well as a married couple. The crowd gathered to watch Eliza and young co-star sing, and when she was done, her husband raised his glass to toast his wife; immediately falling down dead. The death diagnosed as cyanide poisoning, brings Lt. Eve Dallas to the scene, with her wonderful team, including Peabody and McNab; with the media in a frenzy over the poisoning of a famous loved actor.

Eve begins a merry chase to discover who is the murderer, with so many suspects. This is a perfect whodunit, especially being led to believe the original target was Eliza, not Brant. Both Eve and Peabody investigate those who had grudges against Eliza, including someone from the past. To say too much more would be spoilers, and this is too great of a story to ruin it for you. There are a number of surprises and twists, which totally throws us for a loop.

What follows is an intense, exciting, non-stop action filled race to find out who the real killer was; with edge of your seat suspense. I love spending time with Eve, Peabody and Roarke together, as well as getting to see many of the wonderful recurring secondary characters, including Nadine, Mcnab, Mira, Feeney, Reo, Baxter, Trueheart and her fantastic team.

J.D. Robb once again gives us another masterpiece to this wonderful series, which I hope keeps on rolling for many years to come. Encore in Death is another masterpiece to this amazing series, which is always so very well written by J.D. Robb.